Car-starter



(No Model.)

P' FLOOD. 2 SheetsSheets 1. GAR STARTER.

56,762. Patented July 28, 1891..

(No Model.) l 2 Shets-Sheeb 2 P. FLOOD.

GAB. STARTER.

No. 456,762. Patnted July'28, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OiuucEa PATRICK FLOOD, OF ALBANY, NEWT` YORK.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,762,dated July 28,1891.

Application filed February 20, 1891. Serial No. 382,171. (No model.)

To all whom, Z715 may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK FLOOD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Albany, county of Albany, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Im- `Jrovements in Oar-Starters of whichthe foll lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to such improvements; and it consists `of the novelconstruction and combination of parts, hereinafter described andsubsequently claimed.

Reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several iigures therein.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a bottom plan view of a street-railway carwith my improved starter mechanism attached. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section of same, taken on the broken line 2 2 in Fig. 1.plan view of an end platform, showing footlever for lifting starterdog.Fig. 4t is a centlal longitudinal section ot' a portion of thestarterdog shank and its supporting-socket. Fig. 5 is a View in frontelevation ot' one of the cast-ings having the roller and slide-rodbearings. Fig. G is a top plan viewof a stopplate for the starter-dog.

To the bottom of car A, I attach a bedplate A preferably fastened to thecrossbeams A2. To the bed-plate nearits rear and forward ends I attachthe castings A3, which castings contain the bearings or slideways A4 forthe slide-bar Ai", and the bearings Ai for the journals AT of rollersAS. The slide-bar bears upon the rollers and is movable longitudinallythereon. The starter-dog B is pivoted at its upper end upon theslide-rod and tapered at its lowerl end to engage with the ground orpavement. The swinging end of the dog is connected by cable B', runningover pulley B2, fixed to the bottom of the car with the foot-lever O onthe front platform, by means of which the driver is able to lift the dogfrom engagement with the ground by means of his foot. Inclosing theslide-bar are the coil-springs L3 and B4, which, acting as a singlespring, bearing at one end upon cast.- ing A3 and at the other end uponcollar Af', tend to force the slide-rod backward or the Fig. 3 is a topcar forward when the dog is in engagement with the ground. The mechanismthus described in function and operation is similar to that shown anddescribed in Letters Patent No. 415,835, issued to me November 26, 1889.Since applying for such patent I have ascertained that when the groundis soft the tapered end of the dog` will be forced into the ground tooeasily, and I provide the same with a stop-plate B5, having a centralaperture B, adapted to loosely receive the dog, and the ears B7, throughwhich the pivot B8 is inserted passing through an aperture formed in thedog at the desired distance from the tapered end, whereby the dog isprevented from entering the ground beyond a certain depth. The platethus pivoted upon the dog is free to change its angular positionrelatively to the dog to conform to the surface of the ground. I havealso ascertained that by attaching the forward end of the cable B to thelower end of a foot-lever pivoted upon the bottom of the car-platformand projecting the upper end of the lever tov which foot-restC2 isattached obliquely up through a mortise C3 in the floor of the platformthe foot -rest and lever can be pushed down upon the ioor of theplatform in a position to be out of the way-and leave the platform freeand clear of all obstructions. The position of the foot-lever when thuspushed down upon the platform-Hoor is indicated by the dotted lines inFig. 2. After the lever has been thus pushed down by the foot and thedog lifted thereby, the parts may be retained in such position, which isthat indicated by the dotted lines, by means of the link C4, pivoted tothe short arm C, secured to or forming a part of the the main lever O,the upper end of the link being provided with an eye O6, adapted to besupported by the hook OT, as indicated by dotted lines and solid linesinFig. 2.

It frequently happens that itis desirable to connect two or morestreetcars togetheras, for example, when the common car is towed by anelectric-motor car. I therefore provide a draw-bar D, which is connectedby the arms D and connecting cross-barD2 withtheslide-ba1A5,thecross-barD2being provided with an aperture adapted toreceive the slidebar, longitudinally of which the cross-bar is IOC freeto slide. The cross-bar D2 is so located on the slide-bar that one endof the spring B4 bears upon one side of the cioss-bai',yvl1ile the otherend of such spring bears upon the casting A3, and one end of thespringB3 bears upon the opposite side of the cross-bar and the other end ofsuch spring bears upon the collar A. The rearward movement of theslidebar is limited by the enlargement A10, when it engages with therear casting A3. It will thus be seen that a rearward movement of thedraw-bar, such as would be induced by drawing another car, would beresisted by the resilient force of spring Bwhile the forward movement ofthe draw-bar, such as would be induced by pushing another car, would beresisted by the resilient force of spring B4 bearing against the forwardcasting. It is likewise apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 that thestarter-dog when in use acts upon and utilizes both springs B3 and B4.Then starting a car from the position shown in Fig. 2, the resilientforce of the springs acting upon the dog balances the car, so that theforce required to start the car up the grade would be no greater thanwould be required to start the car on a level. I am thus able to utilizethe same set of springs to assist in starting the car and to control themovements of the draw-bar, which is of no little importance `inelectric-railway cars, in which very little available space is leftbeneath the trucks after providing room for the motor. By providing theears A12 of the casting A3 with open bearings, opening downward, for theroller journals A7, and the bridge part of the casting with the openbearing, opening upward, for the slide-bar, I am able to cast the partscomplete and provide them with all necessary apertures, thus saving theexpense of drilling` and fitting up the castings.

I prefer to make the starter-dog in two parts, the upper end consistingof a malleable casting comprising the ears B, adapted to receive thepivot B10, by which they are secured to the slide-bar, and the socketB12, adapted to receive the upper end of the shank of the dog. The shankis secured in the socket by means of the set-screw B13, as shown in Fig.4. I am thus able to provide a means for cheaply and convenientlyattaching the dog to the slidebar and for changing the shank or point ofthe dog in case of breakage without disconnecting the ears from theslide-bar.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a street-car, the combination, with a spring-controlled slide-bar,of a starter-dog pivotally secured to such bar, means for swinging suchdog to and from engagement with the ground, and a drawbar movablyconnected with the slide-bar and controlled in its movements by theslide-bar-controlling springs, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a malleable castiron socket pivoted upon aspring-controlled slide-bar, of a detachable starter-dog shank andpoint, substantially as described.

3. Thecombination,withaspring-controlled slide-bar and starter-dogpivoted upon such bar, of bar-supporting rollers and a pair of castingscast with open roller-journal bearings opening downward and an openslidebar bearing opening upward, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a car-platform mortised to receive afoot-lever, of a foot-lever pivoted to the under side of the platformand projecting through such mortise, and a foot-rest projectingobliquely from the upper end of the lever, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day ofFebruary, 1891.

PATRICK FLOOD.-

Witnesses:

FRANK C. CURTIS, OHAs. L. ALBEN.

